


Blue Waltz

by ScrewzLooze



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 90s AU, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Magical Realism, Minor Changlix - Freeform, Prom, School Nurse Minho, Slight Age Difference, minor Hyunin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 08:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17260919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrewzLooze/pseuds/ScrewzLooze
Summary: Everyone thinks Jisung is just a clumsy guy. Few people know that his short-lived headaches and minor abrasions have more to do with him finding excuses to visit Minho, the handsome school nurse, than with a lack of coordination.As his senior prom is approaching, Jisung is determined to ask Minho to be his date for the night, although the task proves to be more complicated and all the more surreal than he could have ever anticipated.





	Blue Waltz

**Author's Note:**

> I know I said to a few of you that my next fic would be a sequel to "The Most Beautiful Lie" but this idea has been bothering me ever since Jisung dyed his hair blue so I wanted to jot down some thoughts until it eventually turned into another oneshot on its own. ^^
> 
> Edits as of 1/5/19:   
> 1) I added "light angst" to the tags besides "fluff" after hearing from readers who told me that they cried a little after finishing this work. You mean a lot to me so I want to listen to your reactions. ^^ <3  
> 2) Our beloved, multi-talented Nana made a wonderful illustration of Jisung in this story that I very much fell in love with; I recommend taking a look as well as her other fanart:   
> Jisung artwork: https://jishiny.tumblr.com/post/181649913073/bluewaltz  
> Nana's other works: https://jishiny.tumblr.com/tagged/nana%20does%20art  
> 3) If you are a Spanish-speaking Stay, a lovely, lovely reader of mine started a FB page with Spanish translation of some SKZ fanfics. I recommend checking the page out and joining the community to help Stays who don't speak English access more stories, as well as for making friends in general :-)   
> Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Minsunglibreria/

 

Jisung tossed and turned around restlessly where he was laying on his stomach, face hidden behind a fort of lacking structural integrity built by stacking his friends’ comic books on top of each other until it was threatening to spill over.

He idly flipped through the pages of the ones that didn’t make it into the fort, pretending to read them, but the silence in the room aside from the sound effects of the video game playing on their TV screen was slowly driving him mad. It became increasingly clear that the problem wasn’t the silence or his friends not having engaging comic books but that even thirty minutes of not talking about Minho was too much to take.

Generally, once Jisung’s rambling picked up steam, it was hard to see the end of it and he could feel the words bubble up in his chest long before he had a chance to fight them off.

"He's like...the sexiest nurse in the whole world, hands-down."

Not that anyone ever argued with that but Jisung still tried to convince the world of his truth with the ceaseless drive and eagerness none of his friends seemed to appreciate. It was hard to remember a time when silence wasn’t filled with thoughts of Minho.

"You haven't even seen that many nurses." Jeongin, his friend a grade below him and Felix, retorted, watching the Aussie boy pop a chewing gum into his mouth from where he was sitting in front of his game console. "Can I get some?"

Jisung was used to his rambling streams getting ignored, to their conversations moving along as if he didn’t just say something about the nurse. He knew that he sounded like a broken record nine out of ten times, and he couldn’t blame his friends for trying to diversify their conversations, but he also couldn’t help himself. Maybe his friends were ignoring him out of mercy.

"Sure." Felix smiled, almost tossing his pack toward Jeongin before remembering that the other still had his braces on. "Wait a minute! Nice trick!" He winked knowingly, and Jeongin let out a wishful whine.

"Just once! Please, Lixie? You know how annoying it is to watch everyone getting to chew gums while I can't?"

"You are not missing out on anything, honestly." The freckled boy assured him, shoving the pack back into the shallow pocket of his acid washed jeans. "Two more months, Innie and they'll be off. Right before prom!"

"He has the prettiest smile and the longest lashes --"

"Are you still daydreaming about Minho?" Jeongin frowned, more frustrated by not being able to chew gums than by Jisung's constant preaching; he got used to the latter much quicker.

"We should go outside, have a basketball match,” Jisung suggested, “At that old parking lot with the bumpy playing field. I usually get some pretty good scrapes on my legs from there." He thought out loud, staring at the sparse constellation of dried scraps littered over his knees and shins. They were hardly two days old, already browned; his skin learned to adapt to the constant injuries over the past three years.

"I don't think I've ever seen you without bloody knees or bruises since I know you."

"Right. This can't go on forever." Felix added to Jeongin’s complaint, nonchalant, even though it may have been one of the most serious things he had ever said to Jisung since the two became friends in their freshman year.

"I know..." Sighed Jisung, picking at the scaps, his skin under them completely healed. "But prom is in like two months and I've been meaning to ask him --"

"Wait," Jeongin's head shot up from where he was eyeing the outline of the pack of gum in Felix's jeans. "Are you really about to ask the _school nurse_ to prom?"

"Yeah, why the hell not?"

Jeongin's brows rose impossibly high up on his forehead. However, the shock began to wear off as soon as it came, replaced by a sense of resignment.

"I can't believe people associate me with you."

Jisung sat up, peeking at his friend over the fort.

"Oh, really? At least I'm not the one who fell on his face while playing soccer just because my crush smiled at me." He teased back, a wicked smile pulling at his lips when Jeongin's face flushed a bright red to the tips of his ears.

" _A_ _t least_ Hyunjin is a student,” Came the retort, the sound of Felix furiously pushing at the buttons of his controller increasingly loud in the distance. “And I've heard that he thought it was cute.”

"Well, just so you know, Minho has also called me cute before." Jisung huffed, crossing his arms over his puffed-up chest, but fondness in his eyes as he remembered Minho saying he was _cute_ in reference to his cheeks.

Jisung's mother had told him that the baby fat would eventually melt away as he got older. But by the age of eighteen, it seemed like his chubby cheeks will not go anywhere.

He used to be insecure about them from the way Felix and Jeongin both had prominent cheekbones already, while much of Jisung’s bone structure was lost under the baby fat as stubborn as Jisung himself. But if there was even the smallest bit of chance that Minho found his round cheeks charming. then Jisung was not about to complain.

"There's no way he would ever agree to dance with you." Jeongin said, gazing longingly at the pastel pink bubble Felix blew before popping it with his lips.

"He can't say no to my puppy eyes." Jisung exclaimed proudly, thinking of all the times Minho let him stick around his office out of pity even after his wounds were tended for.

"But this is different."

"Come on, Innie, at least let Jisung try." Felix supplied, controller held high as he maneuvered the alien ship through the virtual galaxy on his screen.

"I didn't say I was going to stop him," Jeongin added defensively, "I'm just thinking ahead because it will be _you_ and _me_ who will have to deal with the aftermath."

"The aftermath of what exactly?" Jisung quirked an eyebrow.

"Like I said before, he's not going to say yes. Maybe in your dreams, he's as desperate as you are, but it's time you come back down to earth." Jeongin advised, giving Jisung the tough-love he though the other needed.

"Listen. I'm going to be honest," Jisung began with a heavy sigh. Felix immediately paused the game and twisted his torso in Jisung's direction. "I'm graduating this year. I'll probably won't see him again after I go off to college. I just _need_ this dance with him, you know? As a kind of closure, just so that I won't finish high school regretting the things I was too chickened out to do. He might be dating someone for all I know! He might secretly hate me and has just been nice to me so that he won't get fired!"

"Don’t worry, no one could tolerate you for that long unless they loved you like we do." Jeongin assured him with mischief in his eyes. Jisung decided to ignore the backhanded compliment.

"But you know what? Hyunjin is graduating, too, and you should at least ask for his number, or something, because if I have the guts to ask the _school nurse_ to prom then you can surely muster the courage to talk to your crush more."

That made the younger avert his gaze, cheeks heating up even at the mention of Hyunjin.

"And you, Lixie!” Jisung exclaimed, “If you don't ask Changbin out, he's going to ask Hyunjin out, and all of this is already giving me a headache."

"But what if he says no?" Asked Felix meekly, voice so quiet and uncertain, Jisung thought he might have just imagined it. But Felix was asking the question on everyone's mind and Jeongin nodded in agreement.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take,” Replied Jisung, recalling the motivational poster hung up in their Math teacher’s classroom. “You can't argue with that, can you?" For once in his life, Math was on his side.

"But I'm still scared." Jeongin muttered, pulling his knees up to his chest. "I'm scared of falling on my face." It was one of those rare moments that made Jisung realize that maybe being young wasn't always about feeling unstoppable but about how vulnerable they all were.

"Me too...but I'm honestly more scared of living with the regret of what could have been," He explained, searching for the right words. "Because what if Hyunjin gives you his number, right? And what if Changbin is scared, too? He's been drawing hearts on his arm with Felix’s name in it since he first saw him in Music class." Felix's lip curled into a dreamy smile at the memory, eliciting a giggle from Jeongin.

"I don't care what anybody says.” Concluded Jisung, “I'm going to ask Minho to be my date for prom night even if the whole school will make fun of me for it."

Felix and Jeongin whistled in approval, accompanied by an unnecessary flood of clapping. In spite of the embarrassment, Jisung soaked in their cheers, and bloomed like a flower under the sunshine.

"I just need to start making some moves, you know." He muttered.

"Haven't you been doing that all this time? You visit him, like, every week."

"But it's nothing _romantic_. It's just me limping into his office and him giving me bagged ice for my fake headaches."

"Then why not buy him something?" Felix suggested.

"Like what? I'm broke, dude. I can barely afford these comic books...Or do you think I should give him comic books?"

Jeongin buried his face in his hands and sighed into them at Jisung's cluelessness. Felix appeared unfazed. The blonde had known Jisung for a year longer than Jeongin which may have given him the preparation he needed to deal with him better.

"I've seen some couples wear matching mood rings." The freckled boy added, looking at the solo pair decorating a finger on each of his hand. "I can give you mine?"

"No, I can't accept that!" Jisung shook his head, reaching into the pockets of his shorts to pull its content out. "Do you think this will be enough to buy two?"

Felix glanced down at the pile of mostly trash poured out onto his fuzzy carpet. He pursed his lips together, watching a melted piece of candy stick to the fuzz.

"Yeah, sure thing. And if not, Jeongin and I can just pitch in whatever’s left."

"And if he rejects you,” Jeongin grinned slyly, “ _Which he will_ , you can just give the rings back to us." He finished, bracing himself for the impact of Jisung's wrath as the other reached into his small mountain of trash to throw the melted bit of candy at him.

 

**♖**

 

The look for the rings didn't go as expected, although in hindsight, Jisung did have high expectations.

He was extremely picky and specific about what he wanted. He didn't want to settle for a regular, plain mood ring like all other couples and Felix had. He wanted something one-of-a-kind all the while cheaper than the standard rings. Jeongin claimed that he was looking for something that didn’t exist. Jisung was beginning to believe him,

They had looked all over the city, at every jewelry, toy, and thrift shop they could find, until they stumbled upon a cashier who knew of a flea market a few blocks down her shop.

Failing to follow much of the directions she gave them, the market was still hard to miss - it stretched over more streets than the number it took to get there.

"How did we miss this place?" Jisung wondered skeptically, raising his voice to match the sound of at least two hundred people trying to bargain with the sellers behind their booths.

Overwhelmed at the array of tables with jewelry displays, Jisung almost settled for the first mood ring that looked even just a smallest bit different from what they found at previous stores. Fortunately for him, Jeongin and Felix dragged him along to see more of their options.

Among the weird porcelain and glass figurines, cracked and dusty chinas and postcards with personal messages written on their backs in languages none of them could speak, there was a modest collection of jewelry scattered all over the table at one of the last booths of the market with a ring that immediately drew Jisung in.

“This one is so beautiful...” Jisung mumbled to Felix, who was peeking over his shoulders at the aforementioned item. Between the messy rows of mixed metals and gems, Jisung picked up the piece, slipping it onto his index finger up until the first knuckle. He brushed his thumb over the stone, watching it turn into turquoise much to his relief that it was indeed color changing. “But if those plain rings costed so much then I can’t begin to image how much this must be.”

The guy behind the table, presumably the owner of the booth slumped far into his folding chair, leaned forward, his whiskey stained, yellowing mustache coming into view. His alcohol infused jacket immediately hit all three of them in the nose.

“The ring likes you.” He stated. Jisung wondered if the man saw something on the ring Jisung didn't. “I can give it to you for cheaper.”

“I-I actually need two.”

“Two? But there’s three of you, no?” The stranger rasped, eyes catching sight of Jisung’s friends.

“It’s for someone...special.”

“Oh.” The man breathed, “For a girlfriend, huh?”

Jisung blushed a crimson red but gave him a tentative nod anyway just to avoid having to share something personal that could get him closed off of the deal. He was used to people assuming things about him, he was used to turning those assumptions into his advantage, like using his supposed clumsiness to visit Minho more often, or his cheerfulness to hide his insecurities. Today was no different.

“I happen to have two of that ring. They were meant to be together.” The stranger explained, pointing Jisung to the matching pair a few rows down the table. “This is not like any other ring.”

“Well, it’s surely prettier,” _Like Minho_ , the blue-haired noted, tracing his fingers over the bent wisps and curls of metal surrounding the glowing stone. It looked too intricate not to be handmade.

“It’s not just how it looks like," The man chuckled, confusing Jisung all the more. What else would matter in a ring other than the price and how it looks? "It has caught a lot of people’s eyes. But I was asked by the previous owners not to give it away easily.”

“But you said I would get a discount?” Jisung objected, creasing his forehead. He looked to his side, watching Jeongin try on a few bracelets at another table while Felix was furiously fighting off a gang of mosquitoes attracted to his sweet cologne. Jisung sighed, turning back toward the seller, left alone to figure out what to do. “I don’t have a lot of money...” He said, glancing down longingly at the two rings now both settled in the palm of his hand.

“How much do you have?” The man barked, blinking up at Jisung from behind the shadow of his hat.

Jisung shoved his free hand into his pocket, pulling barely enough pennies out for them to even clink together.

The man stared at his sweaty palm cupping the few sparse copper pennies, and Jisung swallowed hard, just about ready to settle for a standard store-bought pair before the man greedily took the money.

“Wait! Does this mean the rings are mine?"

Jisung's friends paused at the exclamation, hurdling around him in surprise.

"If it was up to me, I wouldn't have given it to you," Stated the man, his eyes already focused on another customer. "But the ring likes you. I had no choice."

Jisung squinted his eyes at him, sweat dripping down the sides of his face from the heat of the sun high at the end of March. It was too hot and windy for anyone to keep standing outside, arguing about questions he won’t get the answers to, especially as the seller seemed to have long stopped paying attention to him by then. Thanking him for the deal, he linked arms with his friends and pulled them away from the booth before the stranger would change his mind about the price.

 

**♖**

 

"What do you think he meant by that?" Felix muttered on their way back, stopping at their usual spot where the road diverged into three separate ways.

"Did you see how drunk he was?" Deadpanned Jisung, "He had no idea what was going on."

"He was probably just happy to sell something." Jeongin added, "Even though that was kind of smart. I bet he says the same thing about all the other rings he’s selling."

"But don't they look funny to you?" The freckled boy pressed on, glancing down at the pair resting on Jisung's fingers.

" _Funny_? What's funny about it?"

Felix took Jisung's hand into his, raising it higher up between them.

"There's something swirling inside them. It looks like a whole other world."

Jeongin, up until then drinking from his water bottle, suddenly choked on its content. "Am I the only sane person in this group?" He complained.

"No, Innie,” Jisung assured him with conviction, “None of us are sane. If we were, we wouldn’t be friends.”

"Just look at them!" Felix exclaimed, shoving Jisung's hand into the youngest's face. "Doesn't it look like there's something behind the colors?"

"Maybe dirt? Or cracks in the stone?" Jeongin attempted, "No wonder the guy gave them away so cheap."

"It must have been my charms." The blue-haired smirked, pulling his arm back from Felix's grasp. "But we forgot to ask him what the colors mean? It's different for almost every ring."

"It can't be that different from mine." Felix said, wiggling his fingers with the rings on them. "Mine is green on the inside and blue in the corners. The green is like the default color for most rings and blue means happiness."

"Can I try it on?" Jeongin asked, hopping behind Felix to rest his chin on his shoulder. The blonde twisted one of the pairs off his pinky and handed it to Jeongin, on whom the stone turned into a mix of orange and blue.

"Orange means nervousness. Why are you nervous, Innie?"

"I've been procrastinating on my Literature homework that's due tomorrow." Jeongin grinned sheepishly, his braces gleaming in the setting sun's rays.

"And what does mine mean?" Jisung asked, the entire stone on his rings a shade of violet. Felix smiled knowingly.

"It means that you are in love."

"Well,” Jisung mused, “I guess these rings aren't bullshit after all."

"It can also turn into gray and all the colors in-between the other shades. Gray means you are really anxious and tired."

The longer Jisung stared at the stones, the more he started to believe Felix that there was something inside the rings, like a road that led through another universe. The man at the flea market sure knew how to make an effective sales pitch.

"Then I think it would turn gray on all of our parents." Jeongin remarked, even as they all knew they would end up the same one day. But for now, they could delight in the intensity of their colors instead, and laugh easily.  
  


That night before going to bed, Jisung placed both of the rings inside his book bag so he could give it to Minho the next day. He felt more nervous than he had ever been, yet his ring remained a vibrant purple. He wondered what it would be like to see it turn violet on Minho, too.

 

**♖**

 

Jisung rolled up his jeans, even though the unintentional rips on the fabric were wide enough to reveal the fresh scrapes on his skin.

"You look great today." The blue-haired said, sitting on top of the nurse’s examination table.

Minho's lips rose to a soft smile, the sound of his gloves being snapped in place loud in the otherwise quiet office.

"You say that everytime you're here." He replied, eyes focused on Jisung's mildly bleeding wound. But the younger was fixated on the nurse's mouth, watching it move, noting the curve of his Cupid’s bow and the small folds of his lips.

"Because you look great all of the time."

Minho let out a giggle, leaving behind a toothy grin to adorn his face. Jisung took a deep breath,  hissing before it could reach his lungs at the sharp pain of the soap and water mixture soaking into his wounds.

"Thank you, Nurse Minho." He smirked through the pain, knowing how much Minho hated when he called him _Nurse Minho_.

"You are the clumsiest guy I've ever met, you know that, right?"

"Am I?" The blue-haired challenged, feigning innocence as he tilted his head to the side, bangs falling into his eyes.

Minho chuckled, soft yet deep, applying a pea-sized amount of antibiotic ointment over the cleaned injury. Jisung winced slightly at the unpleasant sensation, the pain something he could never quiet adjust to over the years. And Minho, as he always did, immediately began fanning over the irritated skin to soothe it.

"Sometimes I wonder if you do it intentionally."

"Do what intentionally?" Asked Jisung, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth to stop himself from laughing while Minho placed a bandage over his knee.

"No one can be this clumsy and survive high school."

"Well, I'm only surviving because of you, Nurse Minho." The younger mused, feet dangling off the examination table once Minho stepped aside, pulling the gloves off his hands and throwing them into the trashcan nearby. "If not for you, I wouldn't have made it this far."

"I think I can agree with that one." Minho grinned, walking back toward Jisung with a hair clip that he fished out of his pocket loose in his hand. Equally confused and curious, Jisung watched the nurse proceed by using the hair clip to secure the blue strands falling into Jisung’s eyes to the side. Jisung's lids fluttered shut at the feeling of Minho's fingers brushing past his forehead and the way Minho pressed down on the clip to shut it close. "Much better,” The nurse smiled, “Now you can actually see."

"T-thank you." Jisung muttered, voice hoarse and shaky, hating the way his cheeks instantly heated up.

Touch came natural to Jisung; he could hug strangers without any anxiety; he could not imagine feeling close enough to someone without being able to touch them. Yet when it came to Minho, even the thought of the simplest touch left him nervous and covered in goosebumps. He wished he could ask Minho if that was a healthy reaction but that would defeat the purpose.

"I saved it specifically for you since your bangs keep getting into your eyes," Of course, Minho knew Jisung would show up today, too. “It’s not good for your eyesight.”

"Would you like me to get a haircut?" Jisung asked, reaching up to brush his fingers over the small clip, a smiling plastic sun glued to the top, "Where did you even get this from? The kid's section?"

"Another student left it here yesterday. I thought I would keep it for you."

"But would I look more handsome with a haircut?"

"Jisungie, I don't know,” The nurse sighed, clearing his throat as he sat down in his office hair, back turned toward the younger. “It's not my place to say that."

"I'm just asking for your opinion, Nurse. That's all."

"Then, I think you should do whatever makes you more comfortable." Minho said with a voice of finality, leaving Jisung drowning in the sound of his fingers pressing down on the keyboard of his computer.

Jisung knew that Minho had better things to do than to flirt with him. Still, he couldn't help but hate whenever Minho pretended that he wasn't there anymore.  


 

The first time Jisung had met Minho was in his sophomore year when he twisted his ankle during a heated basketball match. He had no idea where the nurse's room was until then.

Felix and Changbin helped him hobble over as they held him up. Coming to think of it, Felix should be thanking him for giving them some time alone and an excuse to talk about more than just homework and their mutual confusion during class.

Each time Jisung remembered back to seeing Minho for the first time, the nurse got more beautiful. Each time, Minho's eyes were wider and more concerned, his smile brighter, his touch more prominent and burning over Jisung's calf even with the two packs of melting ice he sandwiched Jisung's ankle between.

He was sitting on the same rolling office chair as today, showing Jisung how to hold the ice against the swelling. Jisung nodded along mindlessly, feeling his brain shrink into the size of a peanut and his heart inflate, listening to Minho give him the instructions that escaped his attention a few seconds later.

When the swelling had decreased over the days following his gym class incident, Jisung couldn't stop thinking about Minho. He was too shy to speak to him directly, but he wrote him a 'thank you' note and slipped it under the nurse’s door after school. His handwriting never looked better but even then it looked like chicken scratch.

In a strange way, from then on, Jisung began seeing Minho around the school more frequently. It wasn't that Minho was in his proximity more often, but that Jisung began actively looking for him everywhere. He looked for his long white coat, for his dark brown, fluffy hair, and eyes of softly sizzling amber. But seeing the nurse this way was too sparse.

He used to crush on his bleach blonde friend, Felix for a while, and later on Chan, his student government president, but none of that compared to Minho. And he loathed himself for it, trying to bottle up his emotions and thoughts, hiding it from everyone he knew. Crushing on teachers could be embarrassing enough, let alone wanting to hit it off with the school nurse.

But as the weeks went by, seeing Minho only when he had to walk toward the auditorium was not enough. On a cold winter night, feeling the loneliest he had ever been, the secret felt like it will burst him open. He couldn’t shoulder it anymore, being the only one who knew how much he loved someone he couldn’t have. He told Felix about it the next day, who introduced him to Jeongin for extra moral support.

Jisung used to call Jeongin the _fox kid_ because the younger's first suggestion to Jisung was that he should twist his ankle again. At the time, to Jisung's lovesick brain, the idea sounded brilliant, and although he didn't manage to twist his ankle again, he did end up bruising his shins enough to prompt a second visit to the nurse's office.

Seeing Minho again changed everything.

Jisung started faking headaches during his Math and Gym class, anything to get him a quick pass to the nurse, even if just for Minho to put his hand over his forehead and tell him to go back to class with a knowing smirk. But at some point, Minho began leaving his door open because he knew Jisung would be coming, and even after three years, the little note Jisung slipped under his door was pinned to the nurse's bulletin board beside his computer desk.

Exploiting the nurse's welcome, Jisung tried lingering around for longer, on Wednesdays and Thursdays when his last class was Gym so he could miss half of that class while trying to strike up a conversation with the elder.

Minho would entertain him for a while before going back to work, but Jisung would stick by, doing a little bit of his Chemistry homework until he got bored and left on his own.

Today was different however. As the day of the prom was sneaking up on Jisung, he knew he had to start introducing his intentions to Minho somehow.

"I'm actually glad that you gave me this hair clip," Jisung began, licking his lips nervously. "Because I also have something to give you."

"Oh, really?" Minho asked, spinning around in his chair curiously. Jisung bathed in his attention, hungry for Minho's eyes to linger on him, even while he felt embarrassed receiving it. He was embarrassed of giving Minho a gift, embarrassed because of his feelings for him, embarrassed of the years and the worlds making Jisung’s love for the nurse futile, like a seed that can never be bloomed.

He shakily reached into his pocket, pulling out the ring just like the one he had on his own finger.

Minho gave him a confused gaze but Jisung smiled, eagerly pushing himself off the table.

"What is this?" The elder muttered, glancing back and forth between the piece of jewelry glittering under the office lights and Jisung.

"It's a mood ring," Jisung explained, taking Minho's hand into his.

He felt dizzy, as if he had been poisoned. His heart hammered against his chest at the touch of Minho's impossibly soft and warm hand. It was closest to having stage fright, where Minho was his only audience.

The nurse, too surprised to object, watched in amusement as Jisung's visibly trembling fingers managed to twist the ring into place.

"Is this some kind of marriage proposal?" The nurse asked, followed by a soft chuckle, his eyes under the white office lights like the moon reflected on the surface of the sea.

"Would you say yes if it was?" Jisung teased, forcing himself to let go of Minho's hand so the other could inspect the jewelry.

"That depends." Minho humored, taking a strange liking to the ring as it began to shift color before his eyes. Jisung anxiously leaned forward, observing as the originally greenish slip of color bled into orange. "What does this mean?"

Jisung glanced down at his own, a cool violet. It was a stark contrast to Minho's warmer tangerine shade.

"You've never had a mood ring before?"

"Maybe when I was in high school. But that was about five or six years ago."

For a few seconds, it was quiet again, with Minho holding the ring at different angles to the light, rubbing his fingers over it. Jisung shifted his weight onto his other foot, nervously awaiting the nurse’s final verdict.

"And do you like it?" Jisung asked, hiding his fists in the empty pockets of his jeans, feeling the material dampen from the excess sweating of his palms.

A smile sneaked its way up Minho’s lips as he continued to observe the ring. "Yes." He replied, doe eyes blinking up at Jisung. "I think it changes color based on your body temperature."

Jisung exhaled, slowly and carefully, like a bird testing his wings before his first flight. He felt steady again, and the world that had been spinning too fast for him to hold onto reality finally let him stay afloat.

"It's supposed to tell you your true feelings."

Minho gave him a heartfelt laugh at the explanation, eyes creasing in the corners. Still, Jisung had never felt happier than right then and there. There was always a sense of accomplishment washing over him whenever he could make the nurse laugh. The smile on Minho’s face always brightened up the whole room. Maybe he should listen to Felix’s advice more.

"So I'm feeling...orange? And you feel purple? _What?_ "

"Of course not!" Jisung exclaimed, giving Minho's shoulder a playful shove. "Purple means --" Close to saying what he knew the answer to be, he realized that it may not be the wisest idea to confess to Minho his undying love. At least not just yet, if there will ever be a right time. "I-It means…” He stuttered, scraping his mind for a different answer. “Purple means happiness."

He meant more than what he said, but saying anything at all had already made the weight on his chest feel lighter, light enough so that he could carry the secret for a while longer.

Minho's eyes lit up brightly at that in a way Jisung had not seen them shine often. He gulped, feeling himself fall in love with the nurse all over again.

"You feel happy now?"

The younger nodded, watching the way Minho's ring turned to the same blue as Jisung's hair, which was the actual color signifying happiness from what Felix explained to him earlier.

Perhaps Minho was right that the ring just measured temperature change. Yet a part, a big part, of Jisung couldn't wipe the grin off his face, knowing that him feeling happy made Minho happy, too. It wasn’t as if the elder’s ring had turned violet, but it was the most Jisung could realistically hope for, and he was content with that.  


It was hard to think of anything else other than Minho’s blinding smile and the blue against his skin for the rest of the day.

 

**♖**

 

Jeongin and Jisung were in the cafeteria playing Uno when Felix zig-zagged through the crowded tables with over half of the food on his plate already spilled.

"Guys! Listen up!" The blonde boy squealed, unusually high-pitched compared to his dark baritone voice.

"We're listening." Jisung mumbled, eyeing the cards lined up in his hand and the Green Two on the table. Jeongin had a smirk plastered all over his face and Jisung knew he must choose his next card wisely.

"But this is really good news!" Felix pouted, shaking the swamp that had formed on his plate for emphasis.

Jeongin and Jisung let out a sigh in union before placing their cards face-down onto the table, littered with their doodles that accumulated over the years.

Felix leaned closer, his eyes turning into crescent moons. "Changbin asked --"

"It was about time." Jisung said through his smile even before Felix could finish.

The blonde nodded, his enthusiasm enough to fuel a rocket into space as he reached over the table to envelope his friends into an uncomfortable hug.

"You know what that means, Innie." The freckled boy smirked, wiggling his brows. "Hyunjin probably doesn't have a date. Have you asked for his number yet?"

"N-no, I was _kind of_ nervous."

"If I could slip a damn ring on Minho's finger then --"

"Don't start this again..." The youngest whined, smoothing his bangs over his eyes to hide Jisung from view once Felix let go.

"If you don't ask him for his number, _I'm_ going to." Jisung said, voice ominous.

"Don't you dare!" Jeongin warned, grabbing Jisung by the collar of his shirt.

"Wow, there! Calm down! I'm just joking." Jisung was definitely not joking.

"But Jisung is right, Jeongin. I always see you two talk in the hallways, I don't think he would be weirded out if you just asked for his number. It doesn't have to do anything with the prom. Maybe he's not even going." Felix said, stealing a spoonful of rice off of Jisung's plate.

"Yeah, all I ever see is you two hugging and I think I’ve even seen him try to kiss you at some point." Jisung chimed, looking over Jeongin's shoulder to the table where Hyunjin was sitting beside Changbin and Chan. Their eyes met midway, and Hyunjin gave him a warm smile. "He's a friendly guy. And I think he likes you."

"Why do you always have to tease me?" Jeongin cried miserably, melting into Felix's arm as the other cooed and hugged him in sympathy. Jisung could see Hyunjin's smile falter at the sight.

"I'm not teasing you. I mean it. Just stop whining and ask for his number or, like I said, _I_ will."

The youngest let out a huff of air, but soon enough, a smirk returned to his face, and Jisung swallowed hard.

"Fine,” Jeongin said, “I'll ask for his number - if! You also ask Minho to prom by the end of this week." He finished, extending a hand for Jisung to shake. "Deal?"

The blue-haired stared at Jeongin's hand for a while, feeling the pressure build up in his chest at the thought of Minho rejecting him. But the sheer possibility of the nurse agreeing to give him a chance made it seem like a risk worth taking.

Accepting Jeongin's offer, they shook hands that Tuesday.

 

**♖**

 

Three days later, at the last possible minute, Jisung stumbled into Minho's office during lunch time, holding his head as if he was having a headache.

When Minho heard the footsteps, he didn't even have to turn around to see if it was Jisung. The younger shuffled over to his examination table as usual, taking a seat on top.

"It sounds like you're having a toothache? A stomach ache?" Minho asked, a hint of amusement in his voice as he spun around in his chair. But upon seeing Jisung's soured expression, his smile immediately faded as if it was never there. "Is everything okay?"

The nurse didn't wait for Jisung's reply as he got up from his chair, storming toward the younger. Jisung dropped his hand from where he was resting it against his forehead, letting Minho's hand replace it.

"Are you having a headache? Your skin is a little warmer than usual." Jisung closed his eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath as Minho retracted his hand. Jisung already missed the closeness, the tingles it left behind, even the coolness of the metal ring still curled around the elder's finger. He smiled at the thought, glancing up at Minho through his lashes.

"I'm fine," He said, pausing. "I just have a question for you."

Minho furrowed his brows, pointing toward the door.

"Is it something serious? Do you want me to close the door a little bit?"

Jisung shook his head, staring at the color of Minho's ring turn from orange to blue as his own remained violet.

"You know I'm graduating this year...and prom is in like two weeks..." Jisung whispered, chewing on his bottom lip to slow himself down. "Would you, _just maybe_ , go to my senior prom with me?"

A moment of stunned silence followed. Jisung could feel his own blood pulse through his veins. The silence and the pressure was almost too much to take. It felt like he will burst open. It took him three years to muster up the courage to ask, and it took less than a second for all of it to wane as if it never existed.

"Oh, Jisung...That is very flattering but --"

"Are you going to say no?" Mumbled Jisung, the sadness permanently nestling itself between his rib cages. Jeongin was right. "I should have known..."

"Don't be silly," Minho explained, "It's just that I don't think it's _appropriate_."

"But why not?" Jisung pouted, looking up at the nurse from behind his long bangs and lashes. Minho let out an exasperated sigh and turned away. "It's just a dance!"

"Exactly, Jisungie," The blue-haired shivered at the fondness in Minho's voice, "It's not a big deal. You could go with anyone. Who would say no to you?"

Jisung gave him a pointed glare. "I wanted it to be special..."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

The younger's cheeks flushed a bright poppy shade.

It was one of the sweetest things Minho had ever seen, and he could feel his heart deflate at the sight.

"You are my favorite person..." Jisung began, and Minho's knees immediately turned jelly. "I thought it would be cool to take the prettiest person in the entire school to prom."

He blinked at Jisung in surprise before the realization slowly dawned on him.

"Does this, by any chance, has to do something with why you've been visiting me so often? All those little accidents and headaches?" The nurse teased with a soft smile that only deepened the blush burning high on Jisung's cheeks.

The younger nodded sheepishly, eyes darting down to the floor in embarrassment.

"Everything would be up to you,” Jisung begged, “You could wear whatever you want, I would match my suit to you, we would only dance when you want to, or not dance at all, I don't even care," He rambled, heart fervently beating in his chest in a rhythm too demanding to keep up with. "I just want my prom to be something special and I really like you, Minho and...I can't imagine trying to pretend that I'm having fun dancing with somebody else when all I can think about is what it would be like to spend that time with you."

Minho pursed his lips. What would Jisung's parents think? What would the rest of the school say? No one taught him how to handle a situation like this in nursing school.

Jisung's quiet sniffling snapped him out of his thoughts as the boy began furiously wiping at his face with the back of his hand.

"Are you crying?" It always hurt Minho to see his patients cry, but Jisung especially. He had three years of seeing Jisung smile through whatever pain he was in, and seeing him crumble for the first time was a moment he was utterly unprepared for. Yet the worst of all was knowing that he put those tears there.

"No." Jisung replied stubbornly, hopping off the table. Minho’s eyes followed.

"Jisung! Where are you going now?"

"I'm sorry I made you feel awkward..." He mumbled, not even looking at the nurse. "I promise I won't do it again."

" _Jisungie_ ," He heard Minho whisper, "I'm so sorry. This is just..."

"The wrong place and the wrong time?" Jisung finished for him, smiling bitterly. "I get it. It's okay, I understand."

"Please, look at me," The nurse pleaded. Albeit hesitantly, Jisung complied, and Minho's chest caved at the eyes that greeted him, progressively puffing up with unshed tears. "Anyone would be lucky to go to prom with you. But I'm not a student and --"

"I get it. I get it." The blue-haired nodded, shoulders hunched in defeat. Minho felt his own eyes well up with tears. Everything about Jisung’s reaction was painful.

"When I was a high school senior, I was actually very shy and insecure." The nurse confessed, a flood of shame washing over him at the memories of himself trying to take pictures with his mother’s camera that never turned out right. Of all the pants that were too tight on his dancer thighs, of how insecure he was of his hair so he wore baseball caps whenever he went outside.

"Are you serious?” Jisung gasped. “ _You?_ " _The most beautiful guy on Earth feeling insecure?_ Jisung thought, in complete disbelief. Minho felt a chuckle escape him, the lightness of the sound traveling straight to Jisung's heart. Jisung wasn’t sure if it eased his pain or if it made things worse.

"No one asked me out to prom," The nurse reminescend, smiling at the way these very same memories used to make him want to cry but now it felt like the easiest things to say. Time did make things better. "And the person I wanted to go with already had a date. I would have given everything to go to prom with a guy like you, Jisung."

"And I want to believe you," Jisung replied, apologizing one more time before walking out the door. The sound of Minho's voice echoed through the hallway as he called after him, but Jisung was too embarrassed to look back.

 

**♖**

 

"I'm positive that no amount of liquor can get me through this. But God knows I'm a fool enough to try."

"Why are you so dramatic?” Jeongin frowned, curling an arm around Jisung to comfort him, “Get a hold of yourself."

"He took a big old dump over my hopes and dreams."

Jeongin let out a huff of air he had been holding onto for the last hour since Jisung called them together.

"So what's next?" Felix asked from where he was splayed out on the bed behind them, a collector's edition of _Justice League_ rising and falling with the rhythm of his breathing as it rested over his chest. "You could still ask Chan."

"I like Chan,” Jisung mumbled, “But not in that " _I hope you will pinch my cheeks and tell me I'm irresistible_ " kind of way."

Somewhere from the corner of his eye, Jisung could see Jeongin's face contort in disgust at the picture.

"Even if Minho said yes --"

"Can you not say his name?" Jisung whined into Jeongin's shirt as he laid his head on the younger’s shoulder.

"Are we not allowed to say his name for the rest of time?" Jeongin objected, feeling Jisung’s hair tickle the side of his neck as the other shook his head.

From somewhere behind Jisung, Felix and Jeongin exchanged what meant to be a look of sympathy, their snorts and giggles disguised as a cough.

"Fine,” The youngest caved, “We all know who I'm talking about. So even if _he_ said yes, you still wouldn't have been able to do much. Drive him home after the dance? Really? He's like five years older than you. He should be reading you a bedtime story and tuck you into bed."

The blue-haired let out a frustrated groan, shoving his friend away until Jeongin almost fell off the bed.

"Easy there!” Jeongin yelped, grinning. “Does the truth hurt?"

"It's not the truth!” Jisung croaked, “I'm turning 19 soon! Yeah, maybe I'm still a little childish at times but I can be serious if he needs me to be! My mother was 19 when she met my father. We could have held hands!"

"Hold hands? That's not how an adult talks."

"What do you know, dipshit? You're only 17." Jisung retorted, eliciting a long, exhausted sigh from Felix.

"I can't listen to this anymore. Please, guys?"

"Whatever..." Jisung huffed, fumbling with the ends of his shirt. "I'm sorry Jeongin. You are my brother, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that."

"I forgive you." The younger’s grin returned and Jisung smiled at the flash of his braces still adorning his teeth. He will miss the day they will be gone. But for now, everything could stay the same. "I know you can be very mature when you have to be, _unlike now_. I was just trying to get your mind off of him."

"Yeah...I don't know if that's possible." Jisung knew that it took everything in Jeongin not to roll his eyes at that.

"Does that mean you're not coming to prom?" Asked Felix, sitting up to wrap his arms around Jisung.

"I don't think so...what would be the point?"

"Well, we'll still be there. You could come with us? We could be your date?"

Jisung smiled at Felix's effort to cheer him up and at the feeling of two arms squeezing him breathless.

"That's not the same…” He replied, “I really wanted to dance with Minho. I even sent the DJ the song my parents danced to on their wedding day so he could play it while Minho and I dance."

"With all due respect,” Jeongin remarked affectionately, “You are the weirdest guy I’ve ever known."

"So is Minho. It would have been perfect." The blue-haired sulked, heart throbbing as the reality of his rejection was settling in.

"But prom night won't be the same without you..." Felix muttered into his neck and Jisung could feel the pout on his lips form around the words.

"Yeah!" Jeongin seconded, "Who's going to be the prom queen now?"

"We all know that Felix would have won anyway." Jisung scoffed, and felt the ache in his heart grow as he remembered back to all those times he spent imaging a prom night with Minho. He imagined the world watching them, his hands on the nurse's waist, Minho gazing into his eyes with the same tenderness he had caring for his wounds. Reveling in the times that never happened, Jisung glanced down at his ring, and noticed it wasn’t purple anymore.

 

**♖**

 

There were only a few things Jisung remembered before waking up in a place he didn't recognize.

One minute, he was laying on his bed, way past the time he told everyone he would be asleep by, staring at his ring. He remembered holding it up toward the rays of the full moon streaming through his open window and twisting it, watching the metal encasing the stone glitter under the silver hues. He had taken it off and then put back on countless times to check if it still worked ever since it turned black. Maybe he had stained it with his tears and some liquid got under the stone, ruining it. A part of him wanted the ring to stop working so he could take it off forever. But whenever he thought of Minho, the center of the stone tried to bloom into violet again, resisting the black drowning it. Like the flickering street lights outside Jisung's house, the feelings captured inside the stone kept switching back and forth between bruised purple and darkness; black clouds moving past a violet sun trying to shine through.

Jisung wondered if Minho was still wearing his pair or if he took it off whenever he got home. He wondered if any of this even mattered.

And when he opened his eyes again, he wasn't in his bed anymore.

Instead of a pillow, his head was resting on a school desk. It wasn't Jisung's high school, that much he knew. He thought he must be having a nightmare since dreaming about being at school can seldom mean good.

He blinked a couple of times, hoping that if it was all a nightmare, he would wake up soon. It didn't work. He pinched the skin on the side of his arm as hard as he could, making himself yelp out in pain. The skin and the muscles throbbed and swelled up in irritation but it all felt too real.

Although the classroom was empty, there were calculations and notes littering the chalkboard in front of him. He anxiously got to his feet, walking toward the teacher's desk positioned in the middle of the room but there was nothing on it. He turned around to examine the board, finding a rather puzzling piece of information - in the midst of all the other numbers clustered around the laminated surface, in the corner of the board, there was what seemed to be a date. But it couldn't be unless Jisung was misunderstanding something.

Frozen in horror, he took toward the door, relieved to find other people roaming in the foreign hallway. But unlike him, they all seemed to belong here in their ironed, white blouse and dark blue pants. Jisung took a look at himself for the first time, finding that he had on the loose t-shirt and striped pajama pants he wore to bed.

A few students took notice of him, eyeing him and his labored breathing suspiciously.

Breathless before he even got there, he ran up to a student who was holding a newspaper. Too confused to react in time, Jisung grabbed the paper from her hands, flipping to the first page to look for the date. Confirming what he saw on the chalkboard, the year and the month matched up. It was 1988.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked, concern replacing her confusion. "Did you forget your uniform? The principal will be mad. Are those pajama pants? Why are you so pale?"

Jisung didn't catch half of those questions; most of the student's talk blurring into incomprehensible static noise, the edges of each syllable mute to his ears.

"Also, why is your hair bl--"

"Is this really 1988?" Jisung asked, voice strained with hysteria. When the girl looked back at him in disbelief and bafflement, Jisung's heart skipped a beat.

"What else would it be?" She asked him cautiously, shaking her head at a group of students who wanted to approach them.

"It's supposed to be 1993?" The blue-haired muttered, glancing around aimlessly for a sign that would tell him how it was all just a joke gone too far.

That was when he noticed a guy, strangely familiar, opening his locker room with a notebook rolled up between his hand.

He had a pair of glasses on, unflattering against his round, rosy cheeks, even chubbier than Jisung's ever were. His hair was a badly bleached light brown, and he blended in with the other students through his uniform. Still, Jisung recognized him.

"Where are you going?" The girl called after him as he was making his way toward Minho. "You can't walk around in those pants!"

"Who's this guy?" Jisung heard another student utter toward the girl.

"Probably one of those kids who always sit in the back."

It felt like miles and miles separated him from Minho until the blue-haired reached the locker, waiting for the elder to turn around and see him. But when the locker door closed shut, Jisung's eyes opened at the next blink to find himself in his own room again, as if it was all just a dream.

 

**♖**

 

When his eyes snapped open, he felt a surge of pain stinging the side of his arm where he pinched it in whatever world or dream he just snapped out of.

The date on the chalkboard said May 6th, which was the same day and month as in his timeline, expect for the five years in-between.

He decided not to tell anyone about it.

He couldn't find the words to explain it without sounding like a lunatic, and since it happened only once, he took it to be a weird dream.

But the next night, he woke up in 1988 again, being pushed around by a sea of students trying to get to class. The bell rang loudly, its repeated shrieking lost among a hundred hurried steps and chattering. Jisung tried to go against the current but was shoved forward into the familiar classroom by someone behind him who knew where he was heading, unlike Jisung.

When the people blocking most of the view dispersed every which way, he caught a glimpse of the nurse sitting alone, flipping through his notes next to the window. Jisung gulped, feeling the ground soften and shift beneath his feet as he slowly made his way toward the empty seat beside Minho.

"C-can I sit here?" He muttered, and Minho turned toward him, looking him up and down. Jisung felt embarrassed, knowing how much he stood out with his flannel pajama pants, bare feet and blue hair.

Minho furrowed his brows but didn't say anything.

"I take that as a yes." Jisung added hesitantly, carefully lowering himself onto the chair while keeping his eyes on Minho.

The elder didn't seem to mind, soon occupying himself with his notes again.

Jisung fidgeted on the chair, burning under the confused glares he got from the students around them.

"You are Minho, right?" He inquired, his heart picking up steam at the sight of Minho licking his lips to answer.

"Obviously,” Minho squinted his eyes, “Are you new here? Because I have no idea who _you_ are."

Jisung’s grip strengthened nervously on his thighs, blunt fingernails digging into the flesh as he forced a reassuring smile onto his face.

"I just...always sit in the back, you know." He began, borrowing the girl's explanation from yesterday. "My name is Jisung."

Minho nodded in acknowledgment, his doe eyes racing back and forth on Jisung's face, making the younger's blush deepen.

"You don't look like you're from here. Why aren't you wearing your uniform? We still have a month left of school." The elder mused, curious, but no judgment in his eyes. If anything, he seemed intrigued.

"I was running late. And yeah...I guess you could say I'm not from here."

The nurse squinted his eyes at him again but decided not to comment. Jisung let out a sigh of relief, every inch of his body strained under Minho's pinning gaze.

"Your hair is very..." Minho began, struggling to find the right words.

"Sexy?" Jisung supplied, "Trendy?"

"...blue."

Jisung snorted, the sound eliciting a sheepish smile from Minho. Jisung’s gaze was heavy where it’s settled on it.

"Wow, you are very observant."

His eyes lingered on the nurse's smile a little longer, long enough to make Minho stare back at him puzzled, before he was brought back to reality but the teacher shutting the door behind himself.

When he turned away from the sound, his eyes opened to his bedside table, and he was back in his own room with the alarm clock going off in an incessant buzz.

 

**♖**

 

"How many more stores are you going to drag us to?" Jeongin whined, slumping beside Jisung on the cushioned bench.

Felix took a sip of his overtly sweet milkshake, passing it back and forth between himself and Jisung.

"I want a good suit." Felix chimed, his eyes shining like stars as he held a blazer two sizes too big for him up.

"Has Hyunjin asked you out to prom yet?" The blue-haired teased, nudging the youngest on the side with his elbow. Jeongin winced, folding his arms around himself like a shield.

"Of course not!"

"What do you mean by 'of course not'? You guys talk on the phone every day! I can't even reach you anymore!"

"Right. He calls me every night."

"That's good, Innie!" The freckled boy grinned, "I think he likes you."

Jeongin let out a noise of disagreement, but the small smile tugging at the corners of his lips gave it away. Jisung sighed, planting a kiss on top of Jeongin's head.

"Jisung, you are so disgusting!" Complained Jeongin, rubbing at the spot where Jisung kissed him as if it hurt.

"Get used to it!” Jisung advised, “Because Hyunjin is even more disgusting than I am. He will literally drown you in kisses until you hate it. Think of this as your boot camp."

" _Jisung_."

"Look at this one!" Said Felix, pulling out a jacquard black tuxedo.

"I didn't think you would want that one." Jisung commented.

"Not for me! For Innie!"

The younger pointed a finger at himself, yelping when Felix pulled on his arm to have him try it on.

Jisung watched them, slurping on Felix's shake with a separate straw. Times like today was the hardest, when all he could think about was seeing Minho again.

When he was in his timeline, the ring on his finger remained as dark as half of the blazers resting on the racks. There was a hint of orange around the edges of the stone, but in the other timeline, his ring was a vibrant violet, screaming with vividity, almost pulsating.

If 1993 was not the right place and the right time, then 1988 was definitely it. In 1988, Minho needed a friend and Jisung was right there to fulfill that role.

He had seen the posters stuck all over the hallways, advertising the school's prom set on the same day as the one in Jisung's timeline. Minho hadn't said anything about it yet, but Jisung could see the way Minho looked at the posters. Wishing. Longing. Minho loved to dance but all his friends, like Jisung's, already had a date. Jisung was right there to take Minho to prom, once again, even if he shouldn't be, even if the universe had made a cosmic mistake by plugging him into the nurse's past. But being with Minho didn’t feel like a mistake. There was a way in which Minho effortlessly slipped into places of Jisung’s life he didn’t even recognize were vacant, ways in which Minho viewed Jisung’s presence in his life as if the blue-haired always belonged there.

Jisung wasn't convinced that any of this was real, but even if it was all just a dream, this was all he had. So he held onto it like it was real, and fell in love with Minho all over again.

He loved everything that was different about the younger Minho - his obnoxious, unfiltered laugh, his bowl-cut hair, the burnt ends of his bleached hair, his insecurities, the pimples not covered by his bangs, the glasses too round and crooked for his eyes. He was vulnerable and shy, overcompensating with his sass. And Jisung also loved everything that was the same between the two Minhos, like the mischief and challenge in their eyes, the way they could make Jisung laugh without trying to, and how they knew even from a mile away when something was wrong. They were both ambitious and out of the ordinary, and seemed to hold a passion for getting Jisung flustered.

Living a double life was tearing Jisung’s brain apart. He went to sleep in a white blouse and navy pants so he could blend in with the other students, then woke up the next morning to put on his battled sneakers and avoid the nurse at all costs. He told his friends that he was moving on, and that he " _wasn't really all that into Minho_ ” any longer, when in fact, he was falling deeper and deeper in love with him.

He couldn't tell anyone about it. He was afraid that if he did, it would somehow end. If the universe noticed its mistake, it would take Minho away from him. He began to suspect that the ring might have something to do with what was happening, but he couldn't ask the nurse either.

Surrounded by his friends, being the most excited they had ever been with graduation and prom approaching on the horizon, Jisung felt ironically alone. He had never felt this happy and this lonely all at once. It was seemingly as impossible as trying not to drown in a flood.

Looking to the side, he traced the pattern of a paisley printed suit with his eyes, shapes a rusted gold and the background a dark, misty blue. His heart ached, knowing how perfect something like that would look on the nurse.

He took a deep breath, noticing the worried look on Jeongin's face as the younger caught him staring idly into the distance. Jisung gave him a reassuring smile as he got up, swinging his arm around the younger’s shoulders to direct his attention to a hot pink pair of pants he knew Jeongin would love. But throughout the day, Jisung’s thoughts kept going in circles, always returning to Minho, and his chest ached even as a smile worked itself across his face every time.

 

**♖**

 

"I can't do this anymore..." Minho mumbled around a sniff, his head buried in his Chemistry textbook. "Maybe I shouldn't go to nursing school."

After the second illustrated book on cats, nothing seemed to cheer Minho up, even though Jisung had three more lined up next to him.

"That's stupid! We both you know you will rock that exam."

It was the strangest thing in the world to see Minho cry. He never imagined what it would look like, and when it happened, he was completely unprepared.

"If I'm not the best student in class then what's the point?"

"You are doing your best. And you are a good student, Minho. Stop whining."

The elder clicked his tongue, smacking Jisung on the shoulder without lifting his head up.

"If you keep crying like that, you will soak the entire thing." The blue-haired teased, trying to lighten up the mood but for once, it wasn't working.

"I'm not smart enough."

It was strange seeing Minho cry. It was strange looking at Minho, struggling with his homework and feeling so insecure when one day, Jisung already knew that Minho will be accepted to nursing school. One day, he will graduate from there. Along the way, he will learn to look into the mirror without only seeing his flaws. And one day, he will become the nurse he always wanted to be, at a school dealing with a student who was having a hopeless crush on him. But it was funny because Minho himself had no idea about that day, and the insecurities and fears weighing him down seemed so far-fetched and ridiculous now. Minho was praying for his dreams not to fail him, and Jisung was sitting quietly next to him, knowing that all of his dreams will come true.

Until Minho gets to live that day, all the blue-haired could do was rub shooting circles onto his back, leaving the words unspoken.

"If I told you that I know  _for a fact_ that you will get to go to nursing school and achieve your dreams, would you believe me?" Jisung asked, listening to Minho huff and puff in disbelief into his crossed arms.

"No."

"Well, you better because I _know_."

Minho finally managed to turn his head to the side for some air, giving Jisung a faint smile.

His cheeks were a rosy, strands of hair dripping into his eyes like a waterfall, or an untamed field of wheat, and his eyes peeked through it like sunshine turned bronze. His gaze was sad and hopeful; captivating. Jisung thought he was beautiful. Minho was a wildflower that bloomed in every color and every season. And Jisung was right there to see it for himself.

"Thanks for trying. But I'm not smart enough for this. What would happen to me in nursing school?"

"" _What would happen?_ ”" Jisung shrugged his shoulders, resting his head beside Minho's. "It will be difficult. But you are smart and strong, and you will love your job in the end."

Minho swallowed, his eyes searching for something in Jisung's.

"Some days, I just really want to give up. Do something easier instead."

Jisung ran a finger through Minho's hair, tucking a few strands behind his ear. The elder's eyes drifted shut for a second and he took a staggering breath. Jisung was afraid to blink, afraid that when he opens his eyes again, he will find himself in his bedroom, and not be able to comfort Minho.

"I don't think anything is easy when you try to do it well. Besides, I can be quite clumsy...who's going to patch me up then?"

"You don't seem clumsy to me."

"Hold onto that thought." The younger winked, "But you'll keep studying, right? I won’t stop bothering you until you do!!"

Minho couldn't hold back a smile, although his voice was serious as he spoke.

"How come we haven't met sooner? Where have you been from my life all this time?"

Jisung stared at him silently, his heart skipping a beat.

"Was that a hypothetical question?"

They lasted for about ten seconds before Minho’s mouth twitched and they were both laughing.

By that point, the ring on Jisung's finger was almost shining from the vibrancy of the purple.

"Jisung," Minho began, swallowing hard, and Jisung's eyes followed his Adam's apple bobbing with the movement. His cheeks flushed a deeper red even before he could continue. "Maybe this is a stupid time to ask but...will you go to prom with me?"

The younger flashed him a toothy grin and scooted closer until their arms touched where they both rested it on the table.

"I thought you would never ask."

 

There was no universe Jisung wouldn't fall for Minho, and now that was also a fact.

 

**♖**

 

"Thanks so much for helping in." Chan panted, his muscles strained under the heavy weight of two boxes piled on top of each other between his splayed fingers. "No one wants to do the work, everyone just wants to have fun. But little do they know that doing the work _is_ the fun part, isn't it?" He declared with a proud smile, obstructed by the boxes. Jisung muttered a "sure thing," his sneakers squeaking on the laminated wooden floor.

The school gym was huge, maybe bigger than the auditorium that was meant to house three hundred students at the same time. The prom was only a few hours away and they had just began decorating the space.

Besides Jisung and Chan, their Math teacher Mr. Kim and the secretary of the student government, Seungmin, also volunteered to help in. Felix and Jeongin went straight to the blonde's place to get ready for the night after students were dismissed during lunch.

He opened the first box Chan brought in, pulling out a large fringe curtain. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned around to ask Chan which wall they want to prepare for photo taking, when he found himself face-to-face with Minho instead.

The nurse was smiling at him, friendly and confident, yet strangely tentative. Jisung wasn't sure what to make of it.

"What are you doing here?" He found himself asking, watching Minho step toward the box to help him pull out the curtain.

"I thought you guys could use an extra pair of hands." The nurse replied simply, eyes focused on brushing his fingers through the tangled tassel ends. Jisung continued to stare at him, his heart in his throat, leaving him struggling for air. He noticed that the elder was still wearing the ring, which was mostly blue with a faint orange glow trying to break through. Where the two colors couldn't separate, it _almost_ looked purple. Jisung's heart ached at the thought.

"Which wall does this go on?" He asked Chan, who was busy setting up the table for the food.

"The one to the right." Answered Chan, motioning with his head toward said wall.

"I'll help." Minho added, eagerly following Jisung leading the way.

"There's no need for that, but Seungmin might need some help with the balloons." The blue-haired muttered, trying to gather as much of the curtain into his grasp as possible, but it was too long.

He wasn't looking at Minho out of fear of what he would see on his face, but when the curtain that poured over his hold suddenly became lighter, he knew that Minho was right behind him, picking up the remaining half and helping Jisung carry it to the wall.

Since the tassels were so long, the entire curtain had to be placed high enough that the ends wouldn't touch the floor. He dragged a nearby chair to where he roughly wanted to start stapling, and stood up, throwing as much of the material over his shoulder as he could.

"Be careful, Jisungie." Minho warned, and Jisung gulped at the long forgotten, but all the more missed nickname. "Let me hold the curtain for you."

"I got this, don't worry." Jisung assured, promptly feeling the chair tilt forward at the weight, only then realizing that one of its four legs was a little shorter.

"Jisung!" Minho hissed, worry lacing his voice as his hands reached up to stabilize Jisung.

The younger felt Minho's warm hands grip him by the torso, holding him securely in place. He cursed under his breath, eyes falling shut.

The nurse's touch was gone as soon as it came, and Jisung immediately missed it.

In that moment, for the first time ever, Jisung _hated_ Minho. He hated how caring the other one was, how gentle he was, how much calmer he was than Jisung could ever be around him. The world between them was as vast as the one between the earth and the sky, and Jisung was helplessly floating in the middle, looking up at the nurse, unattainable.

"I'll bring you another chair." Minho supplied, turning around to do just that, and Jisung let the curtain fall to the floor, watching Minho's disappearing figure longingly.

The hardest part about trying to fall out of love was thinking that Jisung could do it, and then seeing himself fail miserably whenever their paths crossed. He sighed, jumping off the chair.

He just wanted to be able to face Minho without a whirlwind in his stomach making him nauseous. To be able to talk with the nurse without being sickly in love with him. But the more he learned about Minho through his visits to the past, or dreams, whatever they were, the more he wanted to hold onto these feelings, and feel them forever.

"This one is better. I checked." Minho said around his labored breath, presenting the new chair he just fetched.

"Did you have glasses when you were younger?" Jisung asked, taking the bunched-up pile of fabric Minho gathered from the floor and begin pinning the top edge to the wall, stapling it in place.

"Yes, why?"

"And did you have to wear uniforms in high school?"

"Because it was a technical high school with a dress code, yes. But I hated it. I tried to be different in any way I could."

"Like what?"

"Like dying my hair all sorts of colors. Blonde was my favorite but I couldn't keep bleaching it."

"Right..." Jisung said, hiding his shaky breath behind the sound of the stapling gun.

"Blonde would look good on you," Minho whispered, handing Jisung more of the curtain as they moved along the wall. "I think there was a boy in my class who had dark blue hair like yours, even though the principle hated it. He also had a habit of going against the dress code. I'm glad this school isn't anything like mine was."

Jisung felt himself pale; he was grateful he was facing the wall so that Minho couldn't see his reaction.  


As soon as the wall was finished, they moved onto assisting Seungmin with the balloons, tying them to the frame set up at the front door and the photo wall. They also let several of them go, covering most of the ceiling with them.

Jisung turned around, staring at Minho holding a heart-shaped balloon before watching it reach the ceiling. He had a stupid, beautiful smile plastered all over his face, and Jisung couldn't help but be reminded of the younger Minho. He could make out a few of the acne scars on the elder Minho's chin where some of his acne used to be, and the fluorescent gym lights shining down on his hair turned it into a color almost as light as it was in his high school years.

Unable to look away, the nurse inevitably caught his gaze, and as much as Jisung feared that Minho would be weirded out by finding Jisung staring at him, he just gave the blue-haired a sweet smile, maybe the sweetest smile he had ever given. Jisung's own lips curled into a lopsided grin, and his hold loosened on the string pinched between his fingers until his balloon escaped, bumping into Minho's.

 

**♖**

 

"Don't worry about me."

Felix didn't look convinced as he held onto Jisung's hands and stared at him as if this was the last time they will ever see each other. As if nothing will ever be the same.

"Please come with us."

"Yeah, dude. He said no, so what?" Jeongin added, his own hands nervously buried deep in the pockets of his hot pink pants.

"I don't even have a suit."

"That doesn't matter!" The blonde insisted, and Jisung's gaze fell to the lights reflected in a million different directions on his glitter spangled blazer. "No one will pay attention. Just come with us. I don't want you to be alone on prom night..."

Jisung smiled at him, with something in his eyes that made Felix furrow his brows in confusion.

"I won't be,” Jisung promised, “A good friend gives you space when you need it. But a best friend can tell the difference when you really need it as opposed to you just collapsing into yourself. And right now, I don't need space, so _don’t worry about me._ "

Felix glanced at Jeongin questioningly, asking him without words as to what they should do.

"Jisung is an adult, he can decide for himself." Said Jeongin, giving Jisung's back a friendly pat.

"Oh, so I'm an adult now?" The blue-haired mused with a grin, remembering the time Jeongin asserted the opposite.

Jeongin shrugged his shoulder, mirroring Jisung’s grin, and this time, without braces.

"You moved on from Minho. I think that's a good enough starting point." The youngest replied, noticing Hyunjin's car pull up in front of the house. Jisung nodded on autopilot.

"Wow..." They heard Changbin and Hyunjin say in union through the rolled down window.

Changbin whistled playfully, winking in their direction, and Felix broke out into a giggle.

"Innie, we match!" Hyunjin yelled from the driver's seat, showing off the hot pink flower peeking out from the pocket of his suit.

"Are you not joining us?" Changbin asked, creasing his forehead at Jisung as everyone got into the car except him.

"He's not coming." Felix replied, giving Changbin's shoulder a squeeze, although it may have been more of an excuse to just touch him more than anything.

"Oh," Hyunjin gasped, "Don't you want a ride at least? We could take you home or something?"

Jisung smiled, his bangs swaying along as he shook his head and waved his hand.

"I prefer walking."

"Liar..." Jeongin muttered under his breath, but there wasn't much either of them could do as Jisung poked his tongue out at the younger before turning on his heels. There was another prom he had to go to.

 

**♖**

 

Since it was still too early to go to bed, Jisung decided to kill some time by watching TV. But as his luck would have it, between mindlessly switching channels and staining his t-shirt with his chocolate smoothie, he did end up dozing off.

 

"For fuck's sake..." He muttered, standing in the school bathroom, trying to get rid of the faded chocolate stain while the Minho of 1988 was impatiently stomping his feet next to him.

Even for the odd couple that Minho and Jisung were, for a school prom in the late 80s, Jisung was miserably underdressed in comparison to the elder, whose suit looked as quirky and perfect as he himself with all the yellow and red squares that had no business looking this good on a baggy dark grey blazer. He had two long, asymmetrical earrings hanging from his earlobes that flashed brightly under the greenish tube lights.

"It's fine, Jisung. You look handsome." Minho said, wrapping his arms around Jisung from behind, burying his face between the younger's shoulder blades.

"I'm so sorry...I had a suit prepared, I swear but --"

"You slept in, I know." Minho chuckled, no anger in his tone. "I'm just glad you are here."

Jisung felt himself turn jelly in Minho's hold once more, but this time, he didn't have to hide his weakness. He sighed, throwing his head back to rest it against the nurse.

"I don't think I deserve you."

Minho shook his head, and Jisung's eyes fluttered shut at the elder's hair tickling the nape of his neck.

"I think we are perfect for each other. You deserve me and I deserve you."

Jisung hummed, his stomach churning in bittersweetness.

"I have an idea." The elder whispered into his ear, letting Jisung go so he could yank off the tie around his neck. "Put this on. It will cover the stain."

Jisung beamed, eagerly tying the red fabric around his neck, which laid right over the stain, effectively hiding it from view.

"Minho Genius Lee." He teased, tugging said boy closer by the waist.

"What can I say, you bring the best out of me."

"I wish _I_ could say the same." Jisung laughed, resting his forehead against Minho's. "But I feel like a loser in your presence. Also desperate and sweaty." He confessed, rough words disguised as an innocent joke. Minho couldn't stop himself from laughing, and by the time he gathered himself enough to reply, they got interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door swinging open.

They immediately parted, like two magnets repelled from each other as a stranger walked through the space between them, avoiding eye contact.

Jisung tilted his head to the side, motioning toward the door for Minho, who sauntered over to him, his handsome smirk making a full return.  


The gym at Minho's high school was smaller and the decoration did little justice to the space. But Jisung couldn’t mind, since he was here for Minho and nothing else.

"I always wanted to complement your ring by the way." The nurse began, circling his arms around Jisung as he lead them toward the dance floor.

Jisung glanced down at the stone, still a plum color as ever, always a vibrant purple whenever he was around Minho.

"It can be yours," He said, already slipping the band of metal snug around his finger off, "I don't need it anymore."

The elder's eyes widened but he let Jisung place it onto his ring finger without another word.

Much to Jisung's delight, the stone remained purple.

"I've never seen a gemstone like this before." Minho commented, mesmerized by the twinkling of the stone under the dimmed gym lights.

"That's because it's a mood ring."

"A mood ring? But it doesn’t change color on you."

Jisung smiled, wrapping his arms around Minho's waist, feeling the other gasp at the unexpected but welcomed touch. It was one thing to stand so close when it was just the two of them but now they were far from alone. Jisung knew that, and he tried to stay closer to the perimeters of the mass, away from other’s view. But naturally, Minho was drawn to the middle, away from the shadows and into the spotlight.

"It does. Sometimes it goes orange or black." He explained, then remembered the matching pair on the nurse's finger in his timeline. "Or blue."

"And what does purple mean?" Minho asked, blushing in anger under the disapproving glances they were getting from some of the teachers and students squinting their eyes at Jisung's hands on his waist.

Jisung took note of the other's discomfort and looked around, noticing the frowns on people's faces. He let out a sigh, trying to pull his arms back but Minho reached after them before he could let go.

"Do you really care about what they think of us?"

Another smile made its way to Jisung's lips and he shook his head.

"Not at all."

Under a ceaseless sea of angry stares, he strengthened his embrace on the elder. Minho inched closer to him, lacing his arms around his neck.

"So, what does the ring say about my feelings?"

Jisung's gaze raced back and forth between Minho's eyes and lips. Relief flooded his heart that he could finally tell the truth.

"It means that you are in love." The blue-haired whispered, watching Minho's eyes liven and his smile grow bigger. "Is that the case?"

Minho hummed, their legs moving on their own to the slow interlude of the song playing in the background. "Maybe."

"Don't be like this..." Jisung begged with a pout, watching Minho's nose scrunch up in a giggle.

"I was actually in love with someone else." Minho admitted, and although Jisung remembered the older nurse telling him that, it stung all the same. "But you are cooler."

"And prettier?" Jisung glanced up at him from behind his lashes and Minho rolled his eyes.

"Yes."

"And funnier?" The blue-haired edged on, feeling other couples on the dance floor step away and try to avoid them.

"That, too."

"And sexier?"

"Let's not go that far." Minho replied, but Jisung could see him struggle to suppress another smile, and his wobbling bottom lip gave it away. Jisung raised his chin triumphantly, spinning them both dizzy to the chorus of the next song.  


He always suspected, but now it was clear, that dancing with Minho is what his feet were meant to do. It was almost cathartic to be able to just speak to him, about their dreams, about their fears, in ways that it didn't feel like Minho was supposed to know it all. In this world, wherever they were, Minho was just like Jisung, in love like Jisung, and for the first time since his sophomore year, feeling so much for the nurse didn't have to hurt. For the first time, he was more than in love, and whether it was a dream or a beautiful mistake on the universe's behalf, Jisung was happy.

 

**♖**

 

The way to Minho's house was a long one, but it seemed to fly by in a matter of seconds when the elder reached for Jisung's hand to envelope in his despite the flames burning the apples of his cheeks.

Jisung cooed at Minho's awkwardness, bumping into him from the side, almost making him lose balance. Minho didn't hesitate to reciprocate the gesture by shoving him with his shoulder until they had to cling onto each other for balance. With their arms entangled, they somehow made it to Minho's front porch, unable to let one another go.

Outside, the sky was dark save for a couple of streetlights that gave the two of them multiple shadows, intertwining on the ground. Jisung looked down, and saw that their shadows had also intertwined. He remembered back to seeing tears leak out of Minho's eyes for the first time, and how the lights in the library made them shine like diamonds. He remembered the ring violet against Minho’s skin, and what it meant, and it really felt like that if Minho asked him now to run away together somewhere, anywhere, Jisung would agree. Being with Minho here and now felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be. As their shadows crossed one another, Jisung was sure he would run away with Minho.

Knowing that they couldn’t, Jisung lifted his face from where it was buried in the crook of Minho's neck so he could distance himself. But the elder immediately reached for his tie to pull him back.

Jisung followed a drop of sweat trailing down Minho's temple from dancing too fast. He was equally out of breath and hot under his shirt, yet his chest felt strangely cold at the thought of leaving Minho.

If the ring had anything to do with his journey to the past, or with these dreams, then now on Minho's finger, this was probably the last time Jisung will get to see the elder when he was just like Jisung, when the stone against Minho's skin was violet. Wherever they were, in an impossible nook of the universe, Jisung knew it couldn't last forever. The Minho of this timeline was about to leave for nursing school. He also had his own world to go back to, his friends and family, _his Minho_.

"I'm glad it was finally the right place at the right time." He muttered to himself and to the ring, his smile widening at the sight of a confused-looking Minho. "I'm sure they will talk about us." He said, referring to the students and teachers.

"Let them talk." Minho stated simply, brushing his thumb over Jisung's soft, heated cheeks. "We're graduating in two weeks anyway."

"True," Jisung nodded, feeling his heart pick up steam as the streetlights turned Minho's eyes into liquid gold and bronze. "I should get going."

"You should." Minho agreed without easing his hold on Jisung. The younger felt a laugh bubble up in his chest as he planted a kiss on Minho's forehead.

The nurse's eyes fluttered shut, letting out a sigh he had been keeping in for far too long.

"See you in class on Monday, then?" He asked Jisung from behind his lashes.

"See you on Monday." Jisung echoed, slowly letting go of Minho's hands that he didn't notice he was holding until their absence.  


 

Halfway to the door, Minho paused, glancing back at Jisung and lifting his hand in a wave, the purple on his finger bright even without the streetlight illuminating it.

Albeit struggling to, Jisung managed to wave back, laughing when the nurse blew a kiss his way. He pretended to catch the kiss, holding it against his heart, before the sound of Minho's giggle echoed through the closing door.

 

In spite of himself, Jisung didn’t cry or feel sad. He just softly pressed his lids shut.

 

**♖**

 

When he woke up, he expected to blink his eyes open to a sharp pang in his chest, something that would tell him that he had made a huge, irreversible mistake. But the feeling, much like his ring, was nowhere to be found.

He looked under the couch and lifted all the cushions to see where the ring might have gotten in his sleep, but it wasn’t anywhere. His tie was also gone, revealing the since dry chocolate stain on his shirt.

Just as he was about to open a bottle of wine from his parent's cabinet where he knew they tried to hide it from him, he heard a tentative knock on his door.

He dropped the bottle opener, checking the time on their wall clock. There was still about an hour left of prom, so he stomped toward the door, thinking that it must be Felix and Jeongin wanting to drag him along somewhere with their dates.

But when he tore the door open, prepared to reassure his friends that he was still doing fine, the air got stuck in his lungs at the sight of the unexpected visitor.

He jerked back in surprise, losing his grip on the door handle as he stared up at Minho with wide eyes.

Looking more sheepish than ever in his crisply ironed suit and bow tie, Minho struggled to meet the younger’s eyes while he spoke.

"Can I come in?"

Jisung pressed his hanging mouth shut, stepping aside to give way to the nurse.

"I know it's too late to take you to prom," Minho admitted, averting his gaze to the floor in shame. Jisung's heart clenched in endearment. "But I thought about what you said. And I would still love to dance with you, if it's not too late?"

"Well..." Jisung smirked, his hands reaching for Minho's in an invite to pull him inside. "Since we are both here. I don't have the heart to kick you out now."

"Please, don't," The nurse pouted. "There's still about an hour left, we could --"

"Let's stay here." Jisung suggested, intertwining their fingers. "We can play music on my stereo."

"I'm sorry that I messed up your prom night," Minho muttered, squeezing Jisung's hands apologetically before letting go. "I should have just said yes..."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I didn't get to go to my prom even though I really wanted to," The nurse paused, and Jisung remembered back to the younger Minho, how nervous and eager he was to start dancing. "And I didn't want you to miss yours because of me. It wouldn't be fair."

"At least you look...fancy." Mused the blue-haired, feeling thoroughly underdressed in his shorts and sneakers.

"Is it too much?"

"No! No..." Jisung hurriedly added, " _You look great, Nurse_." He said, as he always did, and Minho smiled at the familiar words.

Jisung missed calling him Nurse. He missed their awkwardness. Missed coming up with excuses on his way to school so he could visit him. He missed the darker hair and the confidence that took him years to build up. In hindsight, maybe he just missed everything.

He was glad to be back to the Minho he knew, whom he fell in love with for the first time. And maybe, even if it was the wrong place and the wrong time, it was possible to be happy.

 

Taking Minho’s hands into his once more, he already knew which song he wanted to play first, even if his friends will call him crazy for it again when he tells them all about it.

**Author's Note:**

> My magical realism striked again :D Maybe Jisung just dreamt it or maybe it was actually a loophole to the past? I leave it up to you to decide which explanation gives you the happiest ending, I certainly have my preference, but I made sure the plot allows for both to be plausible :-)


End file.
